Marshall B Greenman

My name is Nathan, and Marshall was my father. He was also my best friend, my mentor, and my hero. Marshall lived his life as a shining example to all that knew him. His sharp wit and sense of humor, his gratitude, humility, courage, love, and hope for all of humanity and our shared future, were gifts that will be with me forever. These are gifts of the richest kind. There is no amount of money that can buy the things that my father gave away every day for free, to his family, friends, and even strangers. I will always see my dad as a saint, and I have no doubt that he is now an Angel in Heaven, watching over us with a smile on his face.

One of my memories exemplifying his unconditional love for everyone regardless of circumstance, happened when I was in high school and we lived in Tampa Florida, in a fairly run-down house. Marshall, my sister Kamala, and I used to sleep in the same upstairs room in the summer months because it was the only room with an air conditioning unit. Well, one night we were awakened by the sound of a window breaking downstairs. Marshall cautiously went downstairs to see what had happened, and I followed many minutes later to find my father exchanging pleasantries with the man who had just broken into our house. After they had a few laughs, and agreed to meet up at the next neighborhood watch meeting, the man casually climbed back out the window he had just broken into. Marshall's hope and love for all of humanity and our shared future were on full display that night.

By far, the collection of memories I have that best honors his character, especially courage, and faith in humanity, were experienced during the adventure he took my sister and me on when we were only 4 & 5 years old. Marshall thought it would be a good idea for us to pile into a VW van when we lived in Sardinia, Italy, and drive over 6000 miles to a town in southern India called Pondicherry. Keep in mind this was in the early 1970s when he drove through countries like Turkey, Iran, & Pakistan. The sight of a Jewish hippy with two very young children driving across the borders of those countries must have been a shock to every stranger, military policeman, and eventual best friend he met along the way. Somehow he managed to get us to Southern India where we lived for 10 years, mostly in one piece. Again, my father's grateful, humble, and hopeful personality and his faith in humanity got us through many adventures, smiling all the way through.

I was blessed to spend a full week with him in the final days, while he was still sharp as a tack. He would often say, “I just don’t know how to say thank you enough!”, “What did I do to deserve such a great life?”, “I can’t wait to see what comes next!”, and my favorite, “I will always be with you.” He also mentioned several times that it was my turn to carry his baton. I wonder, what would the world be like if I loved family, friends, and especially strangers, the way a father loves a son? That is who Marshall was. Unconditional love for everyone. Just like salmon swim upstream, and birds fly south for winter, because It’s in their DNA.....loving everyone was in Marshall's DNA. How great would it be if someday, it was in all of humanity’s DNA? How great would it be if I played a part in making that happen? That would be a legacy of legacies! Let me finish by inviting all of you to join me in carrying Marshall's baton. In Marshall's honor, let’s love each other a little more and play our part in making the world a better place today, tomorrow, and maybe, just maybe forever and ever.